Ford EcoSport Launched in Fourth Plant

Although one might assume that “One Ford” means that all Ford markets get pretty much all Ford products (OK, it might not make a heck of a lot of sense to sell F-150s in countries where it would be totally Brobdingnagian to understate the case), one vehicle that one might imagine might have some potential in the U.S., the EcoSport, a B-platform based vehicle, went into production last week at Ford Thailand Manufacturing in Rayong.

For those of you keeping score, this is the fourth plant that the vehicle is being produced in, with the others being in Chennai, India, Chonqing, China and Camcari, Brazil. And later this year, it is scheduled to be produced at a plant in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan. That’s in Russia. Explains why that picture is taken outside the Kremlin.

The EcoSport is powered by Ford’s global 1.5-liter Ti-VCT engine, and mated to either the fuel-efficient six-speed Ford PowerShift automatic transmission or a five-speed manual transmission. It is said capable of seating five, but as an alternative to a compact car, so one should realize this is a compact crossover.

According to Ford, when it is fully rolled out, the EcoSport will be available in 100 markets. Maybe one will be the U.S.